Winner Circle!

I don't know if you noticed my nice new banner on the side. Yes, I did it! I completed 50,116 words in 30 days. It was a rough ride, but I had my friends there supporting me and participating alongside me. I'll find out their tallies tomorrow and provide an update.

I've learned a lot from this contest, such as the fact I can't write just for the sake of writing. For me, the characters have always been living breathing individuals who want their story told. I have to wait for them to decide where they're going rather than me trying to force them into a set of circumstances.

Midway into the contest, I decided I liked one of my peripheral characters better and followed his path for a while. I developed a great skeleton story for my new alpha hero.

At one point, I was trying to create a scene and the characters weren't speaking to me, so I just wrote. I ended up with a horrific scene where my hero annihilates my heroine's ego, which led to her flirting at a huge gala event, completely ignoring the fact she was suffering from PTSD and hated crowds. I kept the scene since I had written it. Then I rewrote the entire scene again allowing myself time.

Towards the end, I no longer was writing a story, but rather scenes that seemed appropriate to the story though I was unsure of how they fit in the timeline and they severely lacked transitions.

Once I've had a breather, I'll return to my previous story and wrap it up before evaluating what equates to a mash up of two stories that I created. It's been fun participating in the contest and thanks to my friends for their never ending support.

Final Week

Here we are at in the final week of our race to 50,000+ words. Some have said the contest got them writing, others have stated they are still trying for the end. At the moment, I'm in the lead with 35,000+, Dawne has 28,000+, Kay reached 11,037, Delia at 6472, and Becky had a busy week. We'll see if the Thanksgiving holidays are a detriment to the contest or the needed push to the end.

Harry Potter

Of course, the gals and I went to see Harry Potter last night and as a fan, I feel I can't write a proper review. Yes, I loved it. I felt it stayed as true to the book as it could. I felt the last minute introductions to characters that we knew from the books was a little janky, otherwise a phenomenal movie. It had the right feel, the actors were great, and I was mesmerized for hours.

What I find humorous is the fact that I had been counting down to see this movie and can't wait for the next one in July, yet I didn't fall in love with Harry until a few years ago. To be honest, my love affair began a few months before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in print. Harry has been in my life for over a decade, beginning when I worked at a bookstore. If you've ever worked for an establishment that didn't order enough items for the line of screaming kids and parents, you would understand why Mr. Potter annoyed me for years. All my friends were excited about the final book and were determined that I had to read the series. It got to the point that one friend thrust the first book in my hand and said I had to read at least the first one, which led to me reading all the books in a very short time. I had become one of those people who had to read the final book the day of its release, in which I was desperate for my copy.

As for the movie, did it live up to your expectations as a fan of the book or as a fan of the movie? Not to offend, but there is a difference between the two types of fans.

What's in a Name?

My characters have started to take over! I love when they become individuals in my mind with full personalities, acting out the scenes for me. I was discussing this phenom with the girls and about how my hero, Sebastian,(yes Kay, I stole the name after our conversation in the elevator) is very much an alpha male and is aggressive in the intimate scenes I wrote. I had even questioned adding some mild variations of bondage and domination into the scenes. Of course, in the end the hero will have his deeply seated reasons for his bedroom behavior.

Kay quipped that I would have to write for an erotica publisher and needed a new name. You see, I already have a pen name. I figured with my Eastern European last name and the fact that I already write professionally under my legal name, I should come up with another name for my personal writing. But the girls believe I need a more erotic name, something like Cherie Wilde.

What do you think? What would be a great pen name in general or for an author of erotica. BTW, I'm not planning to write erotica? Many authors touch on these touchy subjects.

Week 2

Week 2 has altered the landscape for the NanoWrimo contest. I've taken the lead with 22,500, Dawne has over 18,000 with Kay, Delia, and Becky taking a breather from writing over the weekend.

My competitive streak has come out. I refuse to accept that I'm incapable of completing the 50,000 words by the end of the month. My goal this weekend was to reach the halfway point, but it didn't happen. I admit, I do have a life, which interrupted the writing. But I am determined this week to try to push for over 30,000. My characters are taking on a life of their own and I'm really enjoying their journey, so it is fun.

Let's see if I can accomplish my goal this week, especially before Thanksgiving weekend arrives and dominates all my time.

Week 1 Status

Our little group of Nano Wrimo writers have been using our breaks to the fullest potential and some of us have carved extra time out of our schedules to try to get ahead. For the first week of the contest, Dawne is in the lead with 10934, I'm at 9300, Kay at 2194, Delia at 1855, and Becky with 700 words.

During the course of the first week, I was positive of my story's direction, but my story had other ideas. I was writing a scene involving a rescue attempt and liked one of the participants, who was a secondary character. He was really witty though you questioned his loyalty. I love those types of guys. As I described the physical features of the character, I realized I was describing Oded Fehr. This weekend Becky and I caught a glimpse of one of Fehr's movies and I realized, I wanted to write more about this character. So my story has grown a tangent line, focused on a secondary character.

We'll see what the second week brings.

Fever is Spreading

More of our friends have signed up for Nano Wrimo. As of today, we have Kay, Dawne, Delia, and I signed up, Crystal joining from Tampa, and Becky participating. Every break we check in to update the others on how many words we've accomplished. Even if I don't meet the 50,000 word deadline, I'm having fun with my girlfriends. Dawne recommended we have a celebration at the end of the month to mark our accomplishment and I absolutely agree. Here's to more words today!

Who is Keyser Soze?

The other night I called Michelle to discover that they were watching The Usual Suspects. I was shocked to discover that Amber, Crystals' sister, had never seen the movie. When discussing it among my Fort friends, I was further dismayed to find they've never experienced one of my all-time favorite movies. I can still remember sitting in the the theater reeling from the big reveal 15 years ago.

Who is Keyser Soze? He's the boogieman that criminals warn their kids not to cross because those who wrong Soze never live long enough to boast about it. Our five criminals discover they owe Soze and he's come to collect. While the men try to save their lives, the FBI is getting closer to unmasking Soze, which culminates in one of the best endings ever. Though the film has some violent moments and course language, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro and Kevin Spacey give amazing performances. A highly recommended movie.

Ready, Set Go ...

November 1st arrived and Nano Wrimo began. My girls, Becky and Dawne, as well as Crystal, in Tampa, have all joined the contest. Upon arriving to work, I discovered Dawne had provided Becky and I darling bags that held a flash drive for each of us to begin our work. No excuses! We can work on our writing on our breaks and encouraged each other to do so.

And we were off! Through the day, we posted updates to one another on how far we've gotten. True, compared to others, we haven't gotten that far, but it is a great start!